Seeking Solace
by monkkeyslut
Summary: "This isn't what I wanted." She murmurs. "I know," Roy tells her. And he does. Roy/Jade with some Lian on the side.


**Oh. Targets was such a bitchass episode, that this needed to be made. And I love Lian. So she's in here too. Cheshire might be a bit OOC, but I'm not sure. I've never written her before.**

* * *

><p>Roy shifts his daughter in his arms, setting her down on the bed carefully. She mumbles softly, hand scrubbing at her face. "…daddy?"<p>

"I'm here baby," he murmurs, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Did you have a good day?"

"The best," she murmurs, closing her fist around his fingers. "Thank you."

"It was my pleasure," he smiles, leaning forward to kiss her forehead. She tightens her grip on his fingers before letting go. "Night daddy," she whispers, eyelids drooping shut.

Roy brushes hair away from her face before standing up. It had been her sixth birthday, and the young girl had had her friends from school over during the afternoon, and a big party with some of the Titans, Dick, Wally and his family, Dinah and Ollie later that night. She'd been so excited she'd worn herself out.

Turning off lights on his way to his bedroom, he pulls at the tie Dinah had insisted he wear. He'd gone the whole night with it on, only attempting to take it off twice, but Lian had caught him and so had Mia, so he'd stopped fidgeting and worried about what kind of dangerous gifts Lian would get from the Titans. Especially Rose.

Roy doesn't bother turning on the light in his room, but when he goes to shut the door, a shadow down the hall distracts him. A shadow right in front of Lian's room—

Roy darts forward, forgetting about the tie, and nearly tackles the person standing there, but she dodges easily, foot kicking up, getting Roy right in the stomach. When he looks up, he sees Jade.

"What're you doing here?" He wheezes, clutching his stomach. She doesn't reply. Instead, she grips his tie and tugs him towards his bedroom. Roy follows along carefully.

When they reach his room, Jade pushes him into the room and shuts the door quietly. In seconds, the only noises in the room are Roy's breathing and the traffic outside. Jade looks different, Roy realizes. Her hair isn't the same, it's longer and curled, and she's dressed in civvies. When she looks at Roy, her eyes change from angry to sad.

"What," he repeats carefully, moving towards her. "Are you doing here?"

She doesn't answer him, but grabs his tie again, smoothing it against his chest. He can feel the tips of her nails against his chest, but he doesn't mind. His hand comes up, gingerly grabbing one of hers. Neither adult is smiling.

"Can't I come around to see my daughter on her birthday?" She smirks and Roy can feel the tips of her nails digging into his skin. His hand grips hers tighter, pulling it away and tossing it back at her. He doesn't move, though and neither does she.

"What do you want, Jade?"

Her eyes meet his and she drops her hand to her side. "I just wanted to wish her happy birthday." He can tell she's lying. She's _always lying._

"Cut the act," he crosses his arms and glares, lowering his voice so Lian doesn't wake up and overhear.

"What _act—"_

"—where you pretend to care." Roy states firmly, arms dropping. "Seriously, Jade, why do you come back here? To make her wish you'd stay? To make _me_ wish you'd—" he shakes his head, running a hand through his orange hair. "We—_you—_gotta stop doing this."

Roy notices her lips twitch downwards slightly, before her blank expression takes its place again. She reaches into her bag, and for a second, Roy thinks she'll gut him, but when she hands him a small box wrapped in red paper, he takes it.

"Give that to her for me." Jade's fingers graze his, and then she's pulling away, turning towards the door—

"Wait," Roy calls, placing the box onto the table. Jade doesn't stop though, but he's fast enough. He grips her wrist, spinning her around. She isn't fighting back.

He leans forward, forehead touching hers, noses brushing. "God," he mutters, one hand gripping her jacket, the other next to her head. "You don't know what you do to me. _Why_ do you _do this _to me?"

She doesn't answer him. And this isn't her. This isn't the Jade he fell in—it's not _her._

But it is. Those eyes are the same, and her jaw and her hips and her hands and it's all her but it's _not._ And Roy wants to know why.

Her fingers blaze a trail up his chest, settling at his tie and pulling it. Roy's mouth collides with hers, and he indulges.

* * *

><p>They don't sleep that night.<p>

Roy's fingers move up her spine, her eyelashes tickle his chest. "What's wrong?" He asks; his voice is loud in the room, although he's whispering. Jade doesn't move for a few minutes. When she finally looks up at him, she says, "I won't be around for a while."

"You aren't around much now," Roy comments dryly, ignoring her glare. "What's going on, Jade? What's so important that you—"

"If they come after me I don't want them coming here and hurting Lian."

Roy's fingers stop moving against her back, and he pulls away slightly, propping himself up on an elbow. Her black hair is spread out along the pillow, dark against the white. "Why would they come after us?"

He knows why. To hurt her, to lure her out of hiding. But he has to ask anyway.

Her nose crinkles, but her eyes don't stray from Roy's. "I love what I do," she tells him honestly, and he can't hold it against her. It's all she's ever known. "But people know who I am. And those close to me wouldn't hesitate to tell stronger, more powerful people, what my weaknesses are."

She pauses. The pad of her thumb rubs along his jaw, catching on stubble that's there. She gives him a small smile. He's unsure if he likes this Jade or not.

"And a lot of people know Red Arrow and me—they know we had something. And if they dig deep enough, they'll find out more. I'm not going to lose her again, Roy."

The archer nods, a warm hand guiding her hips towards his. She exhales slowly, tucking her head under his chin. "This isn't what I wanted."

"I know," Roy murmurs. And he does.

* * *

><p>"Daddy!"<p>

Roy opens his eyes, hand immediately feeling for Jade. But he knows she isn't there. She'd left before dawn. In her place, Roy spots his daughter, grin on her face, hair frizzy from just waking up. "Uncle Dick called, he's comin' over!"

"Oh yeah?" Roy asks, arms looping around his daughter's waist, pulling her to him. She giggles, fingers trying to tickle him, but they pause when she spots the red-clad box on her father's nightstand. Scrambling out of her father's arms, Lian crawls across the bed, hands reaching for the box.

"Whassthis?"

Roy doesn't know if he should mention the gift is from Jade. He's unsure as to how Lian might react. But he doesn't get the chance to answer, because she's already peeling the wrapping paper off, and lifting the box's lid. When she pulls out the silver chain inside, Roy's surprised.

He'd expected a knife, maybe some senbon needles. Not a necklace.

Lian holds the necklace like it's made from glass. Her eyes narrow at the small metallic dagger at the end. When she looks up at Roy, he knows that she knows its from Jade.

Her eyes drift back to the box, where a small plastic bag sits. Inside the plastic bag is a metallic arrowhead. Lian's chin trembles, and Roy pulls her close, engulfing his daughter in a hug.


End file.
